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Maya Rudolph is a revelation onAmazons new series,Forever,which premiered last Friday.
I hate to break out this hoary cliche, but it fits.
How has such a moving, transcendent dramatic actress been hiding in plain sight for this long?
The result is a thoroughly wounding performance that treats lifes small joys and overwhelming tragedies with equal humanity.
Foreverbegins by charting the arc of the relationship between Oscar (Fred Armisen) and June (Rudolph).
While Oscar finds comfort in the routine, June feels trapped by it.
Soon, her expression tightens, her smile dims.
Is this all there is to life?
But then Oscar dies during a trip to a skiing lodge, leaving a void in Junes life.
Rudolph clearly relishes the scenes in the second episode that see her character navigating the fraught waves of grief.
The episode opens with its titular character shopping for a modem in a Best Buylike store.
Under the harsh fluorescent lights, June is already near tears.
Her watery eyes bubble over with tears.
Rudolph hits a perfect tone balancing the ridiculousness of the scenario with a raw-nerved sincerity.
And throughout the episode, Rudolph hones in on how Junes grief doesnt always take the same form.
At home, shes cocooned herself in midday naps and single-serving wine containers.
In essence, she gives depression a physicality.
Forevercould have been a simple story about how a woman builds a new life in the wake of loss.
She wakes up in a strange suburban afterlife, with Oscars face hovering over her.
Film and television is in a fascinating state of flux right now.
Were witnessing actresses relishing layered roles that allow them to push themselves to extremes.
Alongside Keener, Rudolphs performance is the most potent.
Rudolph and Armisen have a comfortable rapport, reflecting how long theyve known each other as performers.
But its evident June is once again uncomfortable with the routine theyve settled into.
Kases presence as their new neighbor unsurprisingly pings her interest.
Kase is secretive, effortlessly cool in her nonchalance.
Do you really want to relive the same life before you got here?
Is that why were here?
Kase knows hes good for something: energy.
She places her hand against the side of his head, touching his pulse and stealing his energy.
When she fails, Kase slips behind her, guiding her hand in an intimate gesture.
Such girls have flesh which photographs like flesh.
You feel you’re free to reach out and touch it.
The Alan Yang and Matt Hubbardhelmed series ends on a sweet, hopeful note about Oscar and Junes future.
Its in these moments that Rudolphs flesh impact is most evident and affecting.
